Trailing its coveted “Top 3” counterpart that released in limited numbers late last year, the Air Jordan 1 “Gold Toe” touches down at select retailers next month. Dropping during NBA All-Star Weekend, the best news regarding this highly anticipated pair is not only its look, but the fact that they’ll be available in larger numbers.

Confirmed to be releasing in full family sizes, the “Gold Toe” 1s will be a general release meaning pairs will be somewhat easier to obtain given the production numbers are slightly larger. Now don’t expect an easy cop, but certainly nothing like the aforementioned “Top 3” and other super limited Jordan releases.

Grab an official look at the Air Jordan 1 “Gold Toe” below and be sure to plan for the February 16 release.

Diving back into the 1990s has been a commonly seen shift of late in the apparel world, and for adidas, it was a time of great change, marked by a new era of design language and new takes on branding. For starters, the company moved away from its iconic trefoil logo, launching the awards podium-inspired “mountain” reinterpretation of Three Stripes, in a sharp hue of green no less.

The peaking stripes aimed to represent an athlete’s journey to the top — “sporting excellence” — adding aspiration to the otherwise static trio of parallel bars. In turn, the brand was also launching a new outlook on performance footwear and apparel altogether: adidas Equipment. Or, EQT for short.

In recent years, adidas has looked to not only deepen its product storytelling, but also offer up a more cohesive range of silhouettes all highlighting one common trait or theme. That brings us to today’s newest collection, a reimagined and modernized take on the brand’s earliest EQT styles.

While still embodying the brand’s initial EQT mantra of “Everything that is essential. Nothing that is not,” the 2017 take on the era-defining EQT Support silhouette keeps those principles intact, ushering in new materials, updated cushioning and a sleekened stance for today’s style.

The full collection of Men’s and Women’s footwear, which can be seen below, ditches the original green in favor of polar opposite accents of Turbo Red, all atop more muted black and white backdrop base colors. Each model features varying overlays and panels called out in color, allowing the collection to share a theme in different and individualized executions.

Just last month, adidas invited a group of select media to view their newest assortment of sneakers from a private venue space coinciding with Miami’s weeklong celebration of culture that is Art Basel. The setting was fitting for a footwear series that’s shifted from pure performance in the 1990s to on-foot art over two decades later. Longtime EQT collaborator Pusha T was also on hand to help to share his love for the model.

To hear all about the new “Turbo Red” lineup of models, as well as discuss the brand’s approach to marketing and its recent run of influencer success, Nice Kicks caught up with both Torben Schumacher, VP Product and Alegra O’Hare, VP of Global Brand Communications.

Nick DePaula: To start off, how would you describe the original design language of the EQT series, and how did you guys look to reimagine that for today’s era with this expanded collection?

Torben Shumacher, VP Product, adidas Originals and Core

Torben Shumacher: EQT is one of the most interesting and iconic stories of our archives from the 90s. Going back to looking at the adidas brand and how we restarted the brand in many ways, Rob Strasser had come in and had a new view on how shoes should look and what the brand is all about. They stripped everything down to the minimum, and did it in a very pure, daring and simple way.

We were really dancing around with the idea of bringing it back, and it’s right for now. It really tells a story from the classics, all the way to the modern and contemporary way that shoes look today. We really like both ends of it. The classic footwear is still something we stand for, and then you can see the journey of bringing in Boost, Primeknit and more modern materials.

They still very much speak to the idea of EQT from back in the day. That same minimalistic approach, and you don’t need a brand mark to spot an EQT. That’s what I love about the entire collection — EQT is a perfect representation of those two worlds and how they come together.

NDP: From a planning standpoint, when you’re looking to bring something back like EQT, do you always look to also re-envision it with new technology and constructions?

Torben: We want to go back to what the core idea was, and then find creative ways to reinterpret it. They totally can just be a 1-to-1 Retro, and there’s obviously a huge community that can appreciate that and loves to see those. In many ways though, we find it interesting to look at things in a new way, and we think that adds to the overall story.

NDP: We’re here in Miami at Art Basel, which is known for pastels like teal, pink and yellow. How did you guys decide to choose one color that would live through the whole lineup?

Torben: It was a really bold move back in the day, for them to pick one key color and put it across the entire line. The green became so iconic for EQT originally. That led us to pick a new color in Turbo Red, that was vibrant and strong, and stands for 2017. Rather than looking at how the shoes used to look, we wanted to look at how the shoes could look today.

NDP: From a brand standpoint, what’s the thinking been in building some of these launches and events around a cultural moment or weeklong event in style – like Art Basel and Fashion Week?

Alegra O’Hare: What we try to do is take inspiration from the product, and with the EQT, it’s about the history and how it cut through the clutter back then. We wanted to go to Miami, where there’s a huge art community, and how can we bring the essence of that product to life at Art Basel, which is arguably one of the most intense cultural moments in the US especially.

From a strategic point of view, we want to understand which cultural moments we really want to tap into the community and create that kind of cultural clash, where we’re bringing together all types of people and can really express something new about the brand.

adidas EQT Support 93/17

NDP: The first thing I noticed, that I was really excited about, was the Boost midsole sculpting on the 93/17 pair. What inspired looking at executing the Boost in a new way?

Torben: So far, Boost has been used in a very simplistic way, and it’s been great. We’ve been celebrating that. When we looked at EQT, we really wanted to bring in and not compromise on today’s technologies with fit and comfort. Boost and Primeknit were two natural materials to utilize.

EQT is known for its iconic midsole design and the structure of the stripes with the molding, so we were really thinking about how we can take that iconic design language and marry it with Boost. It’s really the first time that you’re seeing such a treatment to the material, and we’re really excited about it.

NDP: In our world, we’ve seen such a shift in the last year and a half or so with people really gravitating towards adidas models in particular. What do you guys look for in someone that might be deemed an influencer, and what about the brand do you think has drawn people in?

Torben: I think it’s really just the mindset. We look at ourselves as creators, and we want to find creators that share the same mindset. People that can help us to create a strong point of view. Dare to find your own path and write your own story, and not follow any rulebook.

Alegra: I think it also goes to the ethos of our brand — challenging. Challenging the status quo, and once we really embraced that is when we started to see a massive shift. That’s when everything started to begin, and I think NMD is a great example of that. Nobody really expected that from us, both the product and the way we launched it. The whole mix was a great thing that came together and was unexpected.

Alegra O’Hare, VP, adidas Global Brand Communications

NDP: We had the first collab of the NMD, and at the time we were all loving the model, but I still don’t think we even saw it blowing up the way it did. On a similar note, what are some of the factors that can take someone from being a collaborator, to having their own capsule, like we’ve seen with Rick Owens, Raf, Alexander Wang, Stella and so many others that you’ve partnered with?

Torben: There’s no rules. We have this idea of “open source,” and so we want to invite likeminded creators in and really have a conversation. Rather than come in with a predetermined set of rules that we want to apply to a partner. Those conversations then lead to a creative process and ideation. That might lead to one singular product, or it could lead to something bigger. Most of the projects have grown over time, and we’ve all been happy about how that has come together and been true to both our brands and our partners.

NDP: How would you compare styles between US and European consumers? Since we’re now in such a digital age, it feels like those styles are really blending together more and more.

Torben: I think the key is that it’s become a digital conversation, and information availability has really allowed us to see a drastic alignment of global trends between North America and Western Europe. There’s hardly any differentiation at any time between trends in London versus New York. That’s been great for us. It’s really helped us to get one global message across.

NDP: In terms of influencers and seeing your products being worn by trendsetters, I think it’s fair to say adidas has been in the lead of that segment in our world as of late. Does being in the lead for some of those coveted products change the way you guys approach things going forward?

Alegra: When you lead, there are people following you. You have to keep on pushing yourself to move ahead. I think the important thing is to not repeat, and to change. To keep on changing, while always being true to yourself as a brand. It’s easy to get into a comfort zone and think that everything we’re doing is perfect, but I think that’s part of the culture of us as a brand. We need to keep on challenging ourselves. We’re always trying to express ourselves in a new way. When you look at leadership, we approach it as there’s no one in front, and we have to be even more clear about where we’re going.

Torben: We don’t want to follow along with what we’ve done. There’s no rulebook or one recipe that is the magic one. I think keeping that same curiosity in the process and that same creativity and mindset of trying to change conventions, and finding different ways of approaching things, through collaborations and partners, is the reason why we’re here. We really want to keep that honest and clear perspective on what we’re doing.

Alegra: If you look at our Alexander Wang launch, just the fact that we turned the logo upside down, we’re continually looking at how we can challenge things. Whether that’s how we view our brand, or how we keep on engaging with people.

All-Star Weekend has become an expected celebration every February, not just for the game’s biggest names to show off their explosive talents, but also for the footwear companies looking to launch new statement level products and themed collections at the league’s annual showcase event.

Typically, that means signature stars like Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant will all debut sneakers with special backstories and detailing inspired by the game’s host city. For Washington Wizards All-Star point guard John Wall, he found himself in a unique situation this past February in Toronto, as he’s currently in between shoe deals. Not since Ron Artest wore multiple shoes throughout the 2004 All-Star Game have we seen a sneaker free agent in the game.

“What’s a better stage to introduce a shoe than during the All-Star Game?”— Jon Buscemi

If you were paying close attention, you would’ve noticed that Wall actually took the floor for warmups in a pair of red Italian leather Buscemi sneakers. That caught our interest because the Buscemi brand is known for their made-in-Italy “obnoxiously high quality” casual sneakers, namely its 100 MM model, which incorporates metal clasps and molded handles drafting off of none other than high fashion handbags.

According to the brand’s founder and head designer, Jon Buscemi, they seeded Wall with an early pair of the new B-Court sneaker, as a token of appreciation for one of their longtime proponents and unofficial ambassadors of the brand.

“What’s a better stage to introduce a shoe than during the All-Star Game?” Buscemi recently said over the phone. “That’s traditionally when the biggest brands introduce something. We didn’t promote it at all. All we did was send them to John, he loved it and then he wore them in the warmups before the game. He wanted to wear it in the game, but he wasn’t allowed to because of the hardware in it.”

The hardware Buscemi is referring to would be the 18K gold lock, loop and buckle found along the shoe’s high-cut collar. In addition to prohibiting sneakers that might provide a player with a competitive advantage, the league also simply has a common rule barring extra embellishments or metal objects on footwear. Even though it’s an exhibition game, Wall’s kicks weren’t approved for play by the league.

“John has been a fan of the brand and a pseudo brand ambassador for awhile,” Buscemi continues. “He’s one of our biggest customers, and we’ve built a relationship. We thought it would be really amazing to get him a shoe for All-Star Weekend.”

With Wall in between sneaker deals, opting to play this season out and become a shoe free agent in June, rather than sign a new extension with adidas, the opportunity for Buscemi to crash the All-Star Weekend with its newest basketball-inspired silhouette couldn’t have been better timing. Over the last few years since launching, the company’s 100 MM sneaker has been spotted on the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, James Harden and many others off the court, and now, the brand is more directly tying into the sport’s sneaker heritage.

The B-Court, short for “Ball Court,” represents a new departure for the Buscemi brand, drifting to hoops culture for the first time, while still retaining some classic styling elements and the trademark Buscemi gold hardware.

“We wanted to take sports and the finest Italian leather shoes and bring them together,” says Jon. “It’s the first eleven-hundred dollar shoe that’s seen the floor of an NBA court.”

The shoe will be officially launching later this Spring / Summer season — and yes — the B-Court will be made in Italy and priced at $ 1150. While not specifically made to be played in, the glorified pickup setting at All-Star Weekend served as the perfect platform for Wall to try and debut the new sneaker.

“The shoe wasn’t engineered for the court like a performance shoe, but he loved the way it fit and the way it felt on the court,” reveals Buscemi. “His feedback was really positive, but at the end of the day, it was more about stunting on people. We have some photos of other players staring at him, and basically going, ‘Hey, what the fuck are those?’”

“At the end of the day, it was more about stunting on people.”— Jon Buscemi

Ultimately, Wall wasn’t able to suit up for the actual All-Star Game in the B-Court, and after being introduced in Kobe Xs, he eventually opted for the hardware-less, then-unreleased “French Blue” Air Jordan XII. Buscemi says the brand still felt the added visibility to the new model across a fleet of sneaker blogs, and is looking forward to continuing the brand’s friendship with Wall.

“His style is really aligned with what we do,” begins Buscemi. “We take a luxury approach, but also have a classic design aesthetic. You’ll see gold, the ornate hardware and the finest leather in the world, but it’s not over the top. It really rides that classic line. That’s how John dresses and that’s why I think he’s attracted to the brand. In the future, we’ll probably work on some fun customs for him.”

The brand’s sneakers will continue to offer a stylized twist on industry staples, with a focus on hand-made quality and construction.

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel or come up with the next god’s gift to technology side of footwear,” jokes Buscemi. “It’s more about taking things that we loved as kids and teenagers, and looking at that now as classic footwear and flipping them.”

As the Buscemi brand recently added a slide to the line, and expands to hoops-inspired sneakers this Spring / Summer with the B-Court, you can also expect to see new silos ahead as the company widens its portfolio of products.

“We make a really beautifully made slide now, because we all love slides from growing up. After we’d get off the field or court from playing, we’d throw on slides. It’s more of a lifestyle approach,” says Buscemi.

“In the fall, we’ll also be making a boot. We’re making one of the finest made Italian work boots that you’ll ever see in the market. We’ll have Goodyear welds, buffalo leather and real rubber soles to make these things indestructible. We’re taking a boot and elevating it into being an elegant work boot. We’re taking the best of what’s out there and making it our own.”

While the B-Court’s debut was almost one of the great marketing crashes in All-Star Weekend history, the shoe first worn by John Wall will finally be making its way to Buscemi.com and its lengthy list of stockists in the coming months. Check out the $ 1150 sneaker in detail below.